Shaving Soap Review: Colonel Conk’s Bay Rum

Ease of Lathering: Fair The lather begins quickly enough, and the soap isn’t insurmountably hard to pull soap from, but getting a creamy lather that really inspires confidence proved difficult for me. I found myself going back to the puck far more than with other soaps I’ve tried. No matter the amount of soap I had in the brush, the lather didn’t want to come together. I’m sure that some guys have no problems with this soap, but I did. Your mileage may vary, as they say.

Protection: Fair. I found the soap to have a strong tendency to evaporate, the lather dissipating and allowing my skin to show through, somewhat unprotected. I had to often repaint my face quadrant by quadrant, because the soap was just not holding up, even during a fairly brisk shave. Not optimal.
Residual Slickness: Good. If this soap seemed to have a strong point, it was in residual slickness and nice face feel. I believe that this is primarily to do with the large amount of glycerin used in the formulation.
Scent: Not very strong Bay Rum, to my nose. Not lingering. A little chemical in nature. I was hoping for a much punchier smell. It smelled…lightweight and rather unconvincing. No real spicy smell, no deeper notes, no lingering, rich aroma.
Production/Value: Colonel Conk’s soaps are inexpensive. To me, the soaps still underperformed at the price. I’ve used standard bar soap to shave with, and got a similar result. Honestly, I’d probably pick a canned foam over this soap. And that, my friends, is something that no traditional wet shaver wants to say about a shave soap or cream.
Notes: This has, to date, been the first shave soap that I just couldn’t get any traction with. The scent didn’t hit my nose right, it was a challenge to get the kind of thick, creamy lather I like, and I found the suds to be very time sensitive. I would watch the soap drying and becoming patchy on my face. A careful and frequent re-lather was necessary. If the Colonel’s soap had any one thing to praise, I guess it would be the residual slickness. I ended up throwing the bulk of the puck away. Not highly recommended.